Toy railway car with traveling figurettes



June 4, 1957 v w. R. sMrrH lawn.-

'roy RAILWAY cmwrm TRAVELING Fxcumfrss Original F-led Feb'. 14. 1951 u. .1. www l ,111.1111111111111 711111111111111 Q Q. ATTO R N EY TOY RAILWAY CAR WITH TRAVELING FGURETIES William R. Smith and Gabriel R. Monaco, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to The A. C. Gilbert Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Maryiand Original application February 14, 1951, Serial No. 210,813, now Patent No. 2,660,001, dated November 24, 1953. Divided and this application September 13, 1952, Serial No. 309,490

9 Claims. (Cl. 445-218) This invention relates to toy apparatus in the nature of a toy railway car having a chassis whereon free moving gurettes representing cattle, passengers or other living beings are animated by an indiscernible source of motivation in a manner to travel automatically into and out of the car and lengthwise of the car chassis. The present application is a division of Vour copending application, Serial No. 210,813, tiled February 14, 1951, now U. S. Patent No. 2,660,001.

Electro-mechanical animation of the gurettes is accomplished in the present improvements by vibrating the door surfacing of a toy car chassis without bodily` vibrating the door proper of the car.

An object of the invention is to cause gurettes, when received into the car or onto its chassis, to progress lengthwise of the car in a pathway which curves and terminates at the side of the car at both ends of such path, wherefore the igurettes that are to be automatically advanced along the car can enter and leave the car at the side or sides thereof.

A contributary object is to produce vibration of the floor surfacing on the car chassis by employing as such surfacing a somewhat stiff, thin, friction aording sheet of material resting on the door proper of the chassis and free for edgewise vibratory movement in sliding relation thereto, as well as in sliding relation to figurette guiding partition structure ilanking and determining a designed pathway of movement for the ligurettes.V

A further object is so to dispose the partition structure that rectilinear vibratory movement in a common direction of all portions of a unit of door surfacing shall coact with variously directed courses of the partition always to advance the figurettes along their designed pathway when caused to drift into sliding engagement with the partition by edgewise vibratory movement ofthe floor surfacing.

These and other objects of the improvements will appear in greater particular from the following description of a successful embodiment of the invention having reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a plan view of a toy railway car embodying the present invention together with its track and a ligurette loading or unloading gangplank shown in suitable actual size.

Fig. 2 is an endwise view of the car looking lengthwise of the track in-Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view taken in section on the plane 3-3 in- Fig-l looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view drawn on an enlarged scale taken in section on the plane fi-i in Fig. l looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 shows in elevation one of the free moving figurettes drawn on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the base of the iigurette showing an oblique direction of slant in which the pilose nap of its base is disposed.

A toy freight car, designated 36 as a whole, stands on its track 13 and is equipped internally with a channel that defines a curvilinear pathway directed mainly lengthwise of the car and defined by laterally spaced partitions 57 and 58. Between these partitions there rests dat on the top of the chassis 60 a vibratory door covering sheet 59 consisting of an arcuately shaped strip made of suitable substance to be stifIr enough to resist crumpling, and which may comprise al very thin, light weight, sheet of sti paper, cardboard, plastics, or the like, preferably having a top surface somewhat roughened as by means of a partially embedded gritty or hairy content. The size and outline shape of sheet 59 are such as to permit edgewise rectilinear reciprocative motion thereof in a direction lengthwise of the freight carrbetween partitions 57 and 53.

For imparting such edgewise vibratory motion to the chassis covering` sheet 59, the latter is provided with a motivated extension tab 61 which may be an integral continuation of its own material and which is freely movable edgewise along a slot 56 provided between the bottom of partition 57 and the car chassis 60, through which slot the tab 61 extends. This enables the car floor covering sheet 59 to be vibrated edgewise and lengthwise of the car by a reciprocative prime mover in the form of the armature 62 of a solenoid 63 whose spool core 63 is supported on a holding bracket 54 by means of a removable fastening screw 65. Bracket de is fastened by means of its base flange 66 to the car chassis 60 by holding screws 69. A rubber coupling button 67 is fixedly carried on armature 62 and is firmly cemented to the top surface of tab 61. Y

The traveling response of the loose gurettes 10 to the edgewise vibration of door surfacing 59 is determined in part by the nature of the bottom surface of their respective bases 72. Each of said bases has permanently attached or cemented to it a swatch 74 of long-haired fabric with a springy pile such as plush. This fabric is placed on the figurettes 10 so that the downward pointing flexible pile slants transversely of the figurettes in a common diagonal direction, as indicated in Fig. 6. This gives the iigurettes i0 a tendency to move in the direction of arrow R in the bottom view of same shown in Fig. 6 whenever the floor surfacing 59 on which the gurette rests is vibrated in the direction relative to the dgurette indicated by arrow Y in Fig. 6. ln Fig. l this will cause each iigurette to drift headwise toward its right side in the direction in which it is traveling so that the gurette will drift into and maintain sliding engagement with the partition 57 as it advances along the channel cr passageway embraced between partitions 57 and 5S.

There remain to be described certain current conducting fittings for enabling the car-carried, vibrator magnet coil 63 to be energized electrically while the car is standing at a trackside loading or unloading gangplank 20. This may be accomplished by means of a third rail 75 stationed on and insulated from .base plate l2 by means of bracket 79 and the insulative spacer and electrically supplied through an insulated lead wire 77. 'Current is collected from rail 75 -by the car-carried Contact shoe 76 which is insulated from the car and connects electrically with one end of `solenoid winding 63 by means of a lead '73.

rfhe other end of solenoid winding 63 is grounded to the ear chassis whereby the current returns to source through the car wheels 37 and one of the track nails 13. The length of third rail 75 is such that collector shoe 76 may contact therewith when either of the car doorways 40 `or 40 registers with the end `of gangplank 20. When doorway i? so registers the ligurettes will pass therethrough into the car over gangplang 20. When doorway 40 so registers the i'igurettes will pass therethrough out of the car onto the gangplank. Conventional forms of slidable doors 49 and 49 for toy cars may :be provided to close and open their respective doorways 4i) and 40.

' As fullydisclosedA-in 'our' aforesaid; copending; application, 'SerialjNo -210g813 now Patent Number 2,660,001, the. trackside gangplanlt 29 mayalsobe surfaced with a sheet 33 of iigurette animatingfmaterial like that of the `car `|door surfacing sheet 59 Aindependellily Vibrated edgewise fin the vdirection indicated -by arrows'X in Fig. 1,V whereore tojaid ,inthe entering movement or the leaving movement VVVof the flgurette in respect to the car.

AsV beforer mentioned; vibration of the oar chassis floor covering sheet 59 in the direction of `arrow Y will cause the iigurettes lit toY drift constantly/ toward the partition Y7 headedasshown in IFig., land Ywill maintain sliding engagement oflthe` iigurette with such partition as `the 'gllre'tte travels lengthwise of the car from the entrance door 40 to the exitdoor 40. if on the other hand, .the Viigurette ,l0 were'headed into the doorway 40' it-vwouldstill constantly drift toward its right side but inthat'caseiwould drift into constant sliding engagement with-.the partition SS until emerging trom the car door- Way 40. Whether the gurette is leaving or entering either of the doorways its passing to and from the car can beV automatically assisted by vibration of the hoor surfacing sheetV 3S lon gangplank 2t! 4in the Adirection of arrow X in Fig. 1 as is more fully explained in our copending application. The vibration of sheet 38 can be caused by a second vibratory solenoid, not herein shown, havingV its armature connected to sheet 38 in the mannerarmature 62 is shown attac-hed to sheet 59, which may be employed as prime mover for vibrating sheet 38 `as fully disclosed in our aforesaid copending application. Both said second solenoid and the solenoid 63 herein, willrespond automatically in well known manner to the oscillations of a 60-cycle alternating current fed through their respective coils whenever the iigurettes are to be animated.

The appended claims are directed to and intended to cover all fair substitutes and equivalents for the herein disclosed particular shapes and arrangements of parts that come within the broadest interpretation yof the language employed thereby to denne the invention.

We claim:

LA content animating elongate toy railway box car comprising in .combination with a stationary door 'and Side walls of the car having separate doorways spaced apart in `one of said walls, a reciprocative prime mover above said door of the car, a partition within said car lsuiiciently continuous to guide animated movement of contents of the car terminating at the nearest together sides of said separate doorways and coursing lengthwise of the car ata sufficient distance from said yone of said walls to isolate a space containing said prime mover ybetween'said partition and said one lof said side walls intermediate .said doorways, a vibratable covering on said door of the car :at the opposite 'side of said partition from said space on which contents of the car are adapted to rest for being animated lby vibration of said covering, and motion transmitting connections operatively relating said prime mover to said door covering in a manner to vibrate the latter edgewise in directions mainly llengthwise of said car 2. The combination .with a toy railway box car as defined in claim `1 of a loose iigurette having a base equipped on its bottom `surface with resilient pilous projections extending downward from said base in slantin direction and resting on said floor covering.

3. A content animating elongate toy railway box car as defined in claim 1, in which the said motion transmitting connections include a projection extending from said door covering past the said partition into the said space. Y

4. A content animating elongate toy railway box car as dened -in claim 1,` in which the said motion transmittingV connections include arprojectionV extending from the edge of said floor covering past the said partition into the said space sufficiently stii and rigid with saidY covering to transmit impelling motion rfrom the said prime mover to the said door covering in each of reverse directions.

5. A content animating elongate vtoy railway box car as deiined in claim 1, in which the said oor covering comprises sheet material stift enough to resist crumpling, and the said motion transmitting connections include an extension tab lformed by an integral edgewise continuation of the material of said door covering.

6. A content animating elongate toy railway box car as defined in claim 1, in which there is an opening in the said partition and the said motion transmitting connections extend through said opening.

7. A content animating elongate toy railway box car as dened in claim l, in which there is an opening between the said'oor of the car and the said partition, and the said motion transmitting connections include an extension tab formed by an integral edgewiseY continuation of the material of said door covering extending through the said opening into the said space.

8. A content animating elongate toy railway box car as defined in claim 1, `together with a second partition approximately parallelling the said guiding partition and spaced therefrom cooperatively therewith to define the width of a closed curvilinear pathway extending from one to the other of the said doors, to which pathway the animated car contents resting on the said oor covering are confined. Y

9. A content animating elongate toy railway box car as dened in claim l, in which there is an opening between the said door of the car and the said guiding partition, and the said motion transmitting connections include an extensionV tab formed by an integral edgewise continuation of the material of the said floor covering extending through the said opening, together with a second partition approximately parallelling the said guiding partition and spaced therefrom cooperatively therewith to dene the width of a closed curvilinear pathway extending from one to the other of the said doors, the area of the said oor covering being conned to said pathway with the exception of said extension tab.

Popular Science monthly, December, 1949, page 153. 

